


Day in the Life of the Aihara-Okogi Family

by Rolex



Series: Couldn't Ask For More [5]
Category: citrus - サブロウタ | citrus - Saburouta
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Future, F/F, Family, Gen, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-14
Updated: 2018-09-14
Packaged: 2019-07-12 04:06:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15987284
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rolex/pseuds/Rolex
Summary: A collection of the daily life of Yuzu and Mei's married life, following their trials and tribulations of parenthood.[Altnernate/revamped version of my old domestic fic on fanfiction.net, Day in the Life at Aihara-Okogi's]





	Day in the Life of the Aihara-Okogi Family

“Oh geez,” Yuzu grumbled in exhaustion as she tried feeding her daughter a spoonful of chopped vegetables. “Will you please sit still, Anzu?”

Fidgeting in her seat, the 2 year-old darted her head away and scrunched her nose disapprovingly when Yuzu tried directing the spoon close to her mouth. Sighing in exasperation over yet another failed attempt, Yuzu lowered the utensil in defeat.

Beside the table, Hiroki called out her name, catching her attention, “Anzu, Mommy wants to feed you. You like carrots, don’t you?” Attempting to feed her himself, Hiroki picked up a sliced baby carrot from his little sister’s plate and began bringing it closer to her face.

“No!” she yelled, stubbornly smacking the carrot from her brother’s hand.

The carrot rolled to the floor and stopped as it hit Mei’s foot.

“Anzu,” Mei scolded as she was finishing up dinner preparations on the stove, “Don’t play with your food like that.” Her mother’s stern voice caused her to stiffen up and focus on the vegetables on her plate, though rather reluctantly. Yuzu pursed her lips in a pout, almost envious over how easy it was for Mei to discipline their youngest daughter.

Kneeling on the kitchen tile, Mei picked up the carrot from the floor and washed it under the faucet for a solid three seconds. It would be a waste to throw it away. Walking over, she placed the small vegetable on Anzu’s plate, then placed a hand on her wife’s shoulder. “I’ll take care of it from here. You go finish up the stew over on the stove.”

As much as Yuzu wanted to say she had the whole situation under control, she had already set the spoon down on Anzu’s plate, almost glad that Mei would take over from here.

“Thank goodness,” she sighed in relief. “Maybe you can convince her to eat some of these vegetables. You’re the only person in this house she ever listens to anyway,” she shrugged as she got up from her chair.

“She listens to you sometimes,” Mei threw out, hoping to give Yuzu some acknowledgement.

“Yeah, maybe once,” the older woman chuckled. She eyed Anzu one more time before Mei took her seat. “Okay Anzu, you be good for Mama. She’s going to feed you vegetables now.”

In response, Anzu crossed her arms and shook her head.

“How are you so troublesome, yet so cute!” she said as she ruffled the toddler’s hair and peppered kisses all over her face. Whining, Anzu attempted to shake herself off her mother’s smothering love.

“Yuzu...” Mei reminded, trying to keep herself from chuckling at the sight, “the stove.”

“Right!” Turning away, Yuzu walked over to the pot and began mixing as it was still heating up.

As Mei took her seat, she picked up the spoon and attempted feeding Anzu. “Anzu, will you please eat your carrots?”

The girl grumbled and shut her eyes. Vegetables weren’t exactly their daughter’s favorite food, but both Yuzu and Mei knew that if she continued excluding them out of her meals she wouldn’t get the essential vitamins and nutrients necessary for her to grow.

Also, both agreed they weren’t too fond of Anzu becoming a picky eater as she’d get older.

Anzu shook her head again, clenching her eyes even tighter, hoping she could, by some magical force, _will_  the vegetables on her plate to disappear. Slightly opening one eye, the young girl pouted after finding her dark-haired mother holding the spoon up.

“You can’t make them disappear like that, Anzu,” Mei chuckled in amusement.

“If we had a dog she could make them disappear that way,” Hikaru snorted as he busied himself with his handheld game.

Mei turned to her oldest son sitting across the table and eyed him skeptically. “We don’t even have a dog, but I’m curious to where you put _your_  vegetables, Hikaru. I refuse to believe you were able to finish a whole plate of steamed vegetables that I made for you the other day in just a few seconds.”

“I’m a growing boy,” Hikaru smirked, “Is it not natural for me to eat my vegetables so fast?”

“Maybe for Hiroki it’s natural,” Mei grunted, turning her attention back to her daughter, “but not for someone who keeps saying they want candy for dinner every time they see a carrot stick on their plate.”

Anzu took a look at the spoon again, dreading it from reaching millimeters away from her mouth. After a few seconds of watching her daughter struggle to accept eating the peas, carrots, and squash on her plate, a light bulb flickered in Mei’s head.

“How about this?” Mei suggested, “If you can finish all your vegetables, you can have these strawberries right after,” she finished as she pulled the bowl of berries at the center of the dining table.

Anzu beamed, her mouth watering at the sight of her favorite fruit. Her hands shot out attempting to grab them despite her being confined to her high chair.

“Not until you finish your carrots and other vegetables, Anzu,” Mei reminded.

Grumbling, Anzu inflated her cheeks and covered her mouth with her hands. She shook her head, unwilling to eat her food and focused her attention towards the juicy strawberries she’d much rather scarf down. Unfortunately, disappointment came again when Mei’s attempt to feed her blocked her view from the bowl of fruit.

“Don’t like,” she huffed.

“I know you don’t like vegetables, but if you eat them you can grow to be big and strong like your brothers.”

But Anzu still didn’t seem all too convinced.

Mei pondered for a moment, thinking of another way she could be able to persuade her daughter to accept even a carrot on her plate. As she thought, the younger woman remembered something she read about positive reinforcement for children. She didn’t know if her method would work, but she may as well give it a shot.

Picking up a strawberry with her fingers, Mei said, “If you eat one spoon of vegetables, I’ll let you eat one strawberry. Is that okay?”

Still reluctant at the idea of swallowing a mouth full of squash and peas in her mouth, Anzu placed a finger on her lips and pondered about that deal for a short moment. After a short moment, she made her decision.

“Okay, mommy,” Anzu accepted, a hint of defeat laced in her tone.

Mei smiled and began bringing the spoon closer to her mouth once again. Begrudgingly, Anzu slightly opened her lips, then opened her mouth just enough to close her lips on the contents from the spoon. The next few seconds that passed felt like an eternity for the girl as the vegetables sat inside her mouth. She slowly chewed, and the moment she swallowed, Anzu stuck her tongue out, making a sick face.

“Okay,” Mei chuckled, feeling as if her daughter had suffered enough. She grabbed a strawberry from the bowl and handed it to her. “Here you go.”

Beaming, Anzu enthusiastically snatched the strawberry and began munching on it.

Meanwhile Hikaru was still focused heavily on his video game, ignoring his grumbling stomach. If he didn’t have his game with him at the moment, the blond would’ve surely lost his patience several moments ago and his two mothers would have to deal with his constant whining. But on the other hand, Hiroki patiently sat in his seat, swinging his legs back and forth from his chair as he waited for dinner to be served.

“Mommy, what are we having for dinner?” Hiroki asked.

“We’re having beef stew tonight,” Yuzu answered as she looked through the cabinets for some bowls. “And I hope you all finish your food soon so you three can go to sleep early. Your mom and I have to get up really early tomorrow to finish packing up our things, and we don’t want you kids staying up while we’re asleep.”

“Can we help?” Hiroki beamed, enthusiastic to help out his two moms. Despite his age, Hiroki always had this innate instinct to help out his mothers to make their lives just a little easier. Yuzu smiled at his enthusiasm.

“Wait, what do you mean _we_?” Hikaru huffed as he narrowed his eyes at his little brother, “I know _I’m_  going to be sleeping some more.”

“Well…” Yuzu pondered teasingly, now finding a tray among the cabinets to set the bowls on, “I don’t know, you sure you won’t want to be sleeping in bed tomorrow morning? Your mom and I are getting up really early tomorrow.”

“I can get up early!” his voice filled with a determination Yuzu couldn't help but admire, “I’ll even set my alarm clock so I can help you and mama tomorrow!”

Yuzu chuckled. “Promise?”

Hiroki nodded his head vigorously, confident about his decision. “Mhmm! It's a pinky promise!” He held up his hand, extending his pinky finger out.

“Okay, okay, I believe you!” Stepping away from dinner preparations, the older woman walked over to her son to hook her pinky finger with his. As soon as the promise was set, he gave his mother a wide grin, causing Yuzu to bring his face in and kiss him on the forehead then ruffle his hair.

Once Yuzu walked back to the kitchen, she resumed stirring the contents of the stew one last time before serving.

In the midst of the dinner preparations, Hikaru divided his focus between his game and the several boxes that were stacked among each other. His eyes peered over on his left, finding a few unfinished and opened boxes that were left for packing more items such as the few picture frames that were still hanging on the walls. Peering on his right, he saw the same sight except the stacks of boxes looked a little more tidy and organized. Every box on that side was completely taped and sealed shut while much of that side of the apartment was practically empty. No sight of scattered toys, furniture, etc.

Hikaru knew their apartment was rather small to accommodate a family of five, and yet there were so many packing boxes around the area it made him wonder how much stuff were they able to fit in this small space for the time they lived here.

“I was wondering...” Hikaru began to ask, lowering his handheld game system towards the surface of the table, “Why is it that we’re just moving into Grandpa Shou’s old house now? Didn’t he just give his house to mom? So, why did we have to stay in this tiny apartment first?”

“There’s nothing wrong with this apartment,” Mei said as she continued feeding Anzu. “And there’s nothing wrong with living a more simple life.”

It was true that Mei had inherited her father’s house after he gave it to her after graduating college and marrying Yuzu. And it would’ve been no problem for both of them to move in there once they both finished college. But even after Mei took over as chairwoman of Aihara Academy, while Yuzu was able to secure a job at a nearby publishing company only fifteen minutes from their old high school, the younger woman couldn’t see herself wanting to step foot into that house again, or at least, not for awhile. Mei felt guilty. She felt guilty that a perfectly good house that her grandfather built and her father once owned would be sitting empty for an indeterminate amount of time.

While Mei knew how empty that house was while she was living in it during her teenage years, she was hoping her new life with Yuzu would change the house’s atmosphere and make her forget about the old memories associated with pain and isolation.

She was hoping to create new and warm memories with her wife, memories that would counteract the old ones. But the moment Mei laid her eyes upon that house as the two pondered about moving in there, the loneliness associated with her father’s old house was still fresh in her mind. Yuzu understood this and suggested to Mei they can just move into a nice and small, but comfortable apartment together that was still at a reasonable distance from both their jobs.

Whether or not Mei wanted to live in her father’s estate was irrelevant to the older woman. Yuzu once told her wife that she can wait until she became more comfortable with the idea of moving into her father’s house. But Yuzu didn’t care where they lived, whether it was a luxurious apartment or a run down old house. Wherever Mei was, it was home to her, and Mei felt the same way about Yuzu.

“Besides,” Yuzu added as she started filling individual bowls with the stew, “money doesn’t solve everything, Hikaru.” She began placing each of the four bowls on a tray and lifted it up from the kitchen counter to carry them over to the dining table. “Luxury is nice but we don’t completely need it. Remember, I didn’t marry your mom for her money.”

A smile tugged at the corner of Mei’s lips after hearing her wife’s words. Though it was typical for Yuzu to throw in a compliment every now and then, it didn’t stop the younger woman's face from slowly warming up each time she heard heartfelt words from her.

“I know, I know,” Hikaru acknowledged, focusing his attention back on his game again. “You married mom because you said she was hotter than the spiciest curry you’ve ever eaten.”

Mei dropped Anzu’s spoon midway into feeding her and Yuzu, taken aback by her oldest son’s comment, immediately dropped the tray, shattering and spilling all the bowls of stew. Echoes of shattered ceramic dinnerware caught the complete, undivided attention of her family.

“Oh shit!” Yuzu cursed out loud. Her hands immediately flew to her mouth, mentally scolding herself for such language in front of her kids. She barely registered the burns on her ankles nor the sound of Mei’s chair scraping against the tile as she got up in concern.

Anzu merely stared at the scene with widened eyes, Hikaru sat in shock, baffled that his words caused his mother to drop their dinner, and Hiroki, who still felt the echoes of shattered ceramic tingle his spine, tried to figure out how he could possibly help.

“Are you okay?” Mei asked, trying to maintain her panic. Yuzu was about to bend down to clean up the mess, but her wife stopped her. “It’s okay, I’ll take care of it. Don’t move. And Hiroki,” she sternly warned when she noticed him attempting to get down from his chair, “stay there,” she ordered. “There’s broken glass everywhere and I don’t want you getting hurt.”

Hiroki obediently nodded and sat back in his seat again, anxiously fidgeting as he watched his blonde mother tremble and twitch over the broken glass.

Carefully walking to the side of the kitchen, Mei grabbed a dustpan and a whole paper towel roll from the kitchen counter to wipe off the stew that touched the floor. Seeing how calmly his mother was handling the situation, Hiroki felt himself relax and allowed her to clean up the mess.

“Mommy, are you okay?” he couldn’t help but ask.

“Yes, Mommy is okay!” Yuzu answered with a high-pitched voice, trying to ignore the searing pain up her ankles. She kept herself still while Mei came back with a dustpan and bent her knees close to the tile flooring. Gently, the younger woman began sweeping the pieces of broken glass as she heard Yuzu muttering a few “ow’s” every few seconds. As soon as Mei cleaned up every bit of broken glass on the floor, she threw away the pieces in the trash and grabbed the first aid kit from one of the cabinets.

There were still chunks of their dinner on the tile the two needed to worry about, but Mei’s first concern were the minor burns on her wife’s ankles. Bending her knees down to Yuzu’s ankles, she carefully took them and treated the scratches. After wiping bits of blood from the few scrapes with an antiseptic, Mei wrapped a gauze around her wife’s ankles and hooked an arm over her shoulder as she helped direct the older woman towards the dining table.

“Thanks Mei!” Yuzu sighed in relief as she settled herself.

Hikaru darted his eyes left, then right, unsure if he was allowed to ask. He twiddled his fingers for a bit along his gaming device, hoping to forget what just happened a few moments ago. Silence filled the air aside from the music chiming from his game and the sounds of Mei continuing her cleaning of the kitchen floor.

Sinking in his chair and bringing his game closer to his face, Hikaru attempted to forget the remark he threw out. But the awkward tension he knew he caused was beginning to suffocate him. Why did his mom even react in that way? The phrase sounded odd. He assumed that his mama was comparing his mom to spicy curry, and to a 7 year-old boy, that didn’t make much sense to him.

Rather than continuing to contemplate over it, he went in, eyes still focusing on his game screen, and mumbled, “Was it something I said?”

Yuzu squinted at her oldest son, face still burning and bewildered by his comment. “Of course it was something you said! Where on Earth did you even hear such a thing like that?” The more she thought about his earlier response about her marriage with Mei, the more she began to think it sounded almost close to something Matsuri would say.

Hikaru casually shrugged in response. “Aunt Matsuri told me.”

Why did she have to be right?

“Matsuri…” Yuzu grumbled to herself. She made a mental note to herself to never leave their kids under Matsuri’s supervision unless Harumi or another trustworthy adult was with her.

Out of curiosity, Hiroki blurted, “Why did you compare mama to spicy curry?”

“Well uh…” the gears in Yuzu’s brain shifted to overdrive, trying to figure out how to answer his question in the most child-friendly way possible. “It’s because I love eating spicy curry the same way I-” she caught herself on time before adding more to the awkward atmosphere at the dinner table. If only her head wasn’t clouded with trying to figure out how to say the right thing, she’d be able to say the right thing!

If only her brain could just function properly at this moment-

“It’s because your mother loves curry the same way she loves me,” Mei calmly jumped in.

Yuzu looked at her wife in surprise, then gave her a smile, thanking her for saving her from this mess. Feeling the awkward tension dissipate, Yuzu relaxed herself by drinking a glass of water already on the table.

“Oh! So, if you like curry the same way you like mama, then...” Hiroki tilted his head as he formulated, still attempting to understand why his mom compared his mama to food, “does that mean you like how mama tastes?”

Yuzu immediately choked on her water.

This was a typical day in the Aihara-Okogi family.

Once the chunks of stew and other messes in the kitchen were taken care of, Mei went over to prepare dinner again, but this time, carrying each bowl individually rather than all at once. As the five settled themselves on the dinner table, Mei found herself losing track of the many times she scolded Hikaru to put his game away. Hiroki, as usual according to Hikaru, sat obediently at the table and ate his dinner like a _good little boy_. Meanwhile, Anzu still fidgeted with her dinner, often plucking out the carrots in her stew unless Mei bribed her with more strawberries.

After their three kids were put to bed, the two mothers sighed in relief now that they finally had some peace and quiet to themselves after a long day. Yuzu was surprised. On most nights, it would typically take her and Mei almost an hour, or even more, just to put them to sleep.

But wondering how it was so easy this night compared to other nights didn’t even matter. What was important was that Yuzu and Mei no longer had any worries for tonight. They no longer had to worry about Hikaru possibly sneaking into the kitchen for some late night snacking, they didn’t have to worry about Hiroki staying up another few hours in the night because of his odd sleeping habits, and they didn’t have to worry about Anzu finding a way to wander outside of the apartment.

Snuggling next to her wife, who was in the middle of reading a book, Yuzu leaned her head on Mei’s shoulder, tracing lines back and forth across her arm.

As she rested against Mei’s shoulder, Yuzu couldn’t help but want to repeat the same question she’d always been asking her wife. She bathed in the silence, listening to the sounds of the ticking clock and the occasional flipping of a page as Mei continued reading.

However, the question continued bubbling in the back of her mind and decided to speak up.

“Hey, Mei?” Yuzu soft voice caught the younger woman’s attention.

Mei took her reading glasses off her face and set them and her book on the nightstand as she focused on what Yuzu wanted to ask her.

“What is it?”

Yuzu opened her mouth, prepared to continue her question, but her words caught in her throat. She knew what she wanted to ask about the house they were planning on moving into soon, but feared potentially bringing up more bad memories to Mei associated with her father’s old house. After the new additions to the family, both women agreed they needed to live in a bigger place that could accommodate all five of them. And while Yuzu was almost reluctant for parting with the place that their three kids took their first steps in, she was also excited about the idea of moving into a new and bigger place that would make their lives just a little easier. Mei had even suggested for Yuzu to redesign parts of the old Aihara house to highlight the personality of their new family.

The only issue was: did it have to be Mei’s father’s old house? Yuzu thought it was more than enough, and it was a perfect and ideal place to live in. Yet, she couldn’t shake off the one memory a couple years ago where Mei broke down after visiting the house on a whim.

“Yuzu?” Mei repeated, causing the older woman to snap out of her thoughts.

“I just...I was wondering if you’re actually okay with moving into Papa’s house.”

“This is the fifth time you’ve asked me that this month,” the younger woman yawned, feeling fatigue weigh on her. “I already told you I’m okay with it.”

“I know! But…” Yuzu fidgeted, “I just didn’t want you to think that house is our only option, especially with the way you looked at it last month after we agreed we needed a new place.” She looked at her wife with worry, and asked again to make sure, “Are you sure you’ll be okay stepping foot in there again?”

“I was just a little uncertain that one time,” Mei responded as she sunk her head in Yuzu’s shoulder and interlaced her fingers with hers. “But I assure you I’m ready to step foot in that house again. If I really wanted us to live someplace else I would’ve considered other options awhile ago.”

“Yeah, but-” Yuzu still doubted.

“It’s fine,” Mei softly assured as she kissed the older woman’s cheek. “And I’m pretty sure with you four, it’ll definitely change the atmosphere my father’s house used to have.”

She heard Mei release a soft chuckle after finishing, thinking about how troublesome their kids could be at times. There was one night where the two questioned how they came to the agreement to raise three all at once when Hikaru was already a handful. Mei reasoned out Hikaru’s brashness to be a result of being Yuzu’s biological son.

If Yuzu could remember correctly, it was Mei who offered to have Hiroki while the older woman, after hearing some scientific breakthrough that could allow them to conceive a child with both their DNA, suggested for them to have Anzu.

Although Yuzu technically was the one who suggested having a second child, Mei chose to carry Hiroki after some complications her wife endured. However, before the donor process occurred, Mei was hesitant on having any random man be their second child’s biological father. And while the two women were lucky that the first donor, Hikaru’s unknown biological father, was completely anonymous and unaware of his genes being used, they didn’t want to run into any potential problems in the future such as custody issues or parental claims with a second donor.

To avoid that issue, Yuzu suggested something Mei didn’t think she’d ever think of as a possibility.

Yuzu had suggested for Udagawa to be the donor to their second child.

While the idea was an awkward thing to suggest to Mei’s almost-fiance, Mei accepted and Udagawa ultimately agreed but only under the condition that Hiroki would never know he is his biological father. He didn’t feel it would be fair to be considered the child’s parent when he ultimately would belong to Mei and Yuzu. If the time ever came that Hiroki would find out, Udagawa said he would handle it. But for now, the man was more comfortable with Hiroki calling him his uncle.

After Hiroki was born, the two mothers felt a wave or relief wash over them after noticing how much his calm and patience balanced that of Hikaru’s brash personality. While the two boys’ interactions would mostly consist of arguing, whining, and Hiroki trying to make peace with Hikaru whenever they would fight, it didn’t change the fact they still saw each other brothers despite their lack of blood connection. Yuzu once made a comment how their two sons almost reminded her of her and Mei’s relationship. The comment was meant to be a harmless pointing out of the parallels between the two boys’ interactions and their mothers. But the moment Mei heard Yuzu even mention something like that, she hastily shut that thought down.

Anzu was a bit of a different story. With her literally being a part of both Yuzu and Mei, the two mothers believed she’d be the perfect balance between their personalities.

She wasn’t exactly a _perfect_  balance between the two. If anything, Mei remarked how their youngest daughter was more like her grandfather, who always had a sense of wanderlust and often disappearing during the times she was needed the most. However, Anzu still carried some traits from both women that indicated she is in fact their kid. Physically, at least, she looked like Mei, inheriting her dark hair and much of her facial features, but carried Yuzu’s emerald eyes.

“They sure bring a lot out of us, don’t they?” Yuzu giggled.

“I will still never understand how we’ve been able to manage with those three,” the younger woman lazily chuckled.

“Yeah, but you don’t regret having them around,” she smiled, “even if they can be little devils sometimes, especially Hikaru.”

That suddenly reminded Mei of what their oldest son had blurted out earlier.

She didn’t know where the sudden burst of energy came from, but before Yuzu could have time to react, the younger woman flipped on top of her, pinning both her wrists on the bed.

“M-Mei!” Yuzu’s face flushed and heart pounded. She squirmed, trying to free herself from her wife’s grasp. But it was no use. The younger woman’s grip was too strong. “W-what are you doing?”

“I was just wondering...” a wicked grin spread across Mei’s face, “What was this about me being, quote, ‘hotter than the spiciest curry you’ve ever eaten’?”

There went their plans for sleeping early that night.

* * *

After almost 17 years, Mei didn’t think she’d be living in her father’s house again.

Actually, even after she began living with Yuzu and her step-mother over a decade ago, Mei knew she’d end up inheriting her father’s house the moment she were to marry her grandfather’s hand-chosen suitor. During the period she and Yuzu were dating in high school, she believed it was inevitable for her to belong in the arms of a man who desired her out of pure lust and convenience and ultimately return back to a life devoid of any warmth.

But now, 17 years later she was standing outside her father’s house with her wife and three children, preparing to settle themselves in.

“It’s so big!” Hiroki stared in awe.

After the family stepped in the house, Mei felt a chill in the air and saw that her home--no...house hadn’t changed in the slightest.  
Old picture frames of her younger self with her father and biological mother still hung on the walls. The furniture was exactly how it had been placed when her father, and eventually Mei, left. Once the house was left vacant, Mei’s grandfather requested the old housekeepers and maids to work someplace else, seeing that there wasn’t much of a reason to stay there if there was nobody from the family living there. The only thing that appeared to be different compared to the last time Mei was at this house was the amount of dust on the old family photos.

While Mei was melancholically reminiscing her earlier days living here, Hikaru was greeted with an overwhelming sense of space. It was less suffocating compared to the apartment they all used to live in, and since the house was about five times larger than their old living space, Hikaru automatically took a liking to their new luxurious home. A larger house meant more space to play and run around in, better places to hide and when he and Hiroki would play hide-and-seek, and of course, more rooms for each of them.

At that thought, he turned at his two mothers expectantly, his eyes twinkling with that pleading stare.

“Does this mean we get our own rooms?” he excitedly asked.

Yuzu smiled and nodded as she held Anzu in her arms. “There should be plenty for you kids to choose from!”

In response, Hikaru grinned mischievously at his little brother, gears turning in head.

“I’ll race you!” He shoved his brother to the side, not enough to hurt him, but enough to grab his attention.

“Hey! No fair you're cheating!” Hiroki complained. Picking up his pace, he darted after his brother not before slightly tripping on his way.

“Be careful you two!” Mei reprimanded.

Curious to what her brothers would find, Anzu started fidgeting her way out of Yuzu’s grasp.

“Hey, hey!” Yuzu attempted tightening her hold on squirming daughter, “I know you want to follow where your brothers wandered off to, but your mommy and I don’t want you to wander off and get lost or even get hurt.”

Anzu grumbled in response.

“You’ll be able to explore later, okay?” Yuzu assured, “after your mom and I finish looking over those house some more.”

“Do you want me to hold her?” Mei offered.

“Yes, please.” Yuzu handed Anzu, who was still fidgeting and flailing, over to her wife. Her need for wanting to move around and follow her older brothers still burned in her 2 year-old brain, but her flailing died down a bit as Mei soothingly rocked her.

“There, there.” As Mei continued rocking her, Anzu began to relax

“So, how is this place going to change once we move in?” the younger woman asked.

Her wife beamed as soon as Mei asked that.

“Don’t worry, I’ve already got a couple ideas in mind!” Yuzu enthusiastically ruffled through her bag and pulled out a large sheet of paper that contained design plans for making the house look livelier. “First, we gotta mow the lawn. It doesn’t seem like anyone’s taken care of this place in awhile. But after that’s taken care of, we can add a nice little garden here!” she pointed to the spot on the paper that indicated the front of the house, “And we can also repaint some of the walls, do a little cleaning, dusting, and oh!” Hastily she grabbed another sheet of paper and unfolded it, revealing a design for a welcome sign. “Instead of the Aihara house, it’ll be known as the Aihara-Okogi house!”

Mei couldn’t help but admire her wife’s enthusiasm and positive energy she wanted to bring to this old house. Though, she raised a brow at the name Yuzu wanted to suggest for the house and their family.

“Aihara-Okogi? You want to add the name you went by in college?”

“Y-yeah!” Yuzu stammered a bit, feeling unsure if the name was a good idea or not. “It’s not like...a complete legal name change, but I thought it could be a nice touch to make this house a bit different compared to when you lived here by yourself.”

She sheepishly scratched the back of her head, thinking the idea was a ridiculous suggestion. Yuzu already knew how uncertain Mei felt about their relationship whenever she had to go by a different name just to protect themselves in college. While Mei had gotten used to her girlfriend, now wife, calling herself Okogi, and the days of insecurity were behind her, Yuzu didn’t want to casually bring it back if Mei didn’t feel too fond of it. “U-unless you’re not comfortable with that, then we can just stick to being the Aihara’s!”

Mei pondered the thought. The suggestion was something she never thought of. It was strange to combine both their surnames in such a manner, yet the idea felt so...Yuzu. The longer Mei thought about it, the more the idea grew on her. As a married couple, they’re known as the Aihara’s. However, it was the name they were also known as back when they lived as step-sisters.

And if anything, she and Yuzu were way beyond that point in their relationship.

“I like it,” Mei accepted.

“You do?” Yuzu replied, surprised that her wife readily accepted the suggestion so quickly. And based from her tone, the older woman didn’t expect Mei to automatically be fond of the idea.

Mei nodded, smiling. “It adds a bit of uniqueness to our family and our relationship. I’ve always been an Aihara, and I’m proud to be one. But…” she paused a moment, thinking about her circumstances growing up and compared that to their children’s, “there was always this sense of isolation and rigidness my family brought, and I don’t want to bring that to our children.”

“Mei…”

“You were the one who helped me break out of that and I want our children to understand freedom and individuality...something you helped me realize. So, yes,” she emphasized her acceptance with more confidence, “I accept the new family name.”

Though they’d still be known as the Aihara’s, being known as the Aihara-Okogi family was something that was unique to their family and belonged to only them.

“It adds a nice ring to it too, doesn’t it?” Yuzu grinned.

Her wife chuckled at the remark, “I guess it does.”

**Author's Note:**

> Long Author's Note: (or just skip if you don't feel like reading XD) 
> 
> If anyone has ever followed me on fanfiction.net then you guys would know about my domestic fic collection, Day in the Life at Aihara-Okogi's, which is basically an ideal future fic of Yuzu and Mei's married life taking care of their son, Hiroki. I wrote it last year in October after the idea of a YuzuMei family fic kept popping back up in my head over the summer, and of course, once I started writing fanfic, I couldn't resist writing it. I ended up writing a revamp after lunarjumper (Tumblr) and punklobster/smxmuffinpeddling wanted to add more kids and make all our child OCs siblings, so I thought...let's write a revamped version where Hiroki isn't an only child XD. 
> 
> One thing I do want to note is...Hiroki is actually the first Udagawa kid. I know that mizutanitony has Hideki, but hear me out lol. Even way before I started writing down ideas for this domestic fic collection, I was inspired by the family dynamic in Steven Universe and modeled (or at least tried to...lol I never really wrote much for the old collection) Hiroki's home and family life similar to Steven's and even wanted to include Udagawa in Yuzu and Mei's family, along with Harumin, Matsuri, and the whole gang. Basically, I sorta made Udagawa the Greg-ish Universe and the rest of the Citrus cast the other gems of this fic lol, and then I went on from there. I had a oneshot planned out for my old fic collection that had this talk between Udagawa and Yuzu and Mei discussing about him being a donor and all...but I never got around to writing it, unfortunately
> 
> Anyway, this first oneshot is just meant to be a bit of introduction to Yuzu and Mei's children, and also a way for me to get a feel of writing them. And just like the old collection, I'm gonna be skipping and jumping around times. To give a bit of background (even though I'll go more in-depth with it later): 
> 
> -Hikaru is the oldest child, Yuzu's biological son who has an unknown father, and dyes his hair similar to his mother  
> -Hiroki is the second child and Mei's son, but also Udagawa's (who helped out by being a donor)  
> -Anzu is the youngest and both Yuzu and Mei's daughter through some science process that involves using stem cells and converting them to sperm cells that would be used to fertilize the partner's eggs. Basically, Anzu is a "science-baby", but I've looked it up it's a real thing but the process hasn't been completely developed, is pretty expensive, and very complicated.
> 
> But hey, it's fanfiction. 
> 
> I guess based on what I wrote, I'm still writing a more "idealized" scenario for Yuzu and Mei's married life, and maybe somewhat (heavily...lol) ignoring some realism (like the fact that same-sex marriage still isn't legal in Japan, same-sex couples can't adopt children or have a donor be involved in conceiving a child, and science-children is a thing), which I typically don't like doing but...I'll figure it out lol.
> 
> Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed~


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